Best Friends No Longer
by Rina Aria
Summary: [LoM] It has been a while since the Mana Tree regeneration and it marked the quiet day of Iris and Kain lives. Well, not when Kain actually harbor a feeling to the Mana Girl and he have quite a lot of rival just wishing to snatch Iris from him. Iris was oblivious about their fight and asked her friends to help. Will she ever knew the reason they even fight?


**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Mana, obviously.**

Okay, so this was my first time writing a fanfic for Legend of Mana. Being the first game I ever played, Legend of Mana had some special place in my heart of course. I just knew the existence of fanfiction 2 years ago, and just know that Legend of Mana did have some fandom this year.

Well, that's all I guess. So why I write this, I wonder… well, I thought that if the male protagonist and female protagonist met, and we have the other male character came in, then we could have more than one AI, I guess it would be a fun whatever-angle love.

Oh anyway, forget the technical stuff and please enjoy my first fanfic~

***Note (In case you have forgotten): the whole story is on 3****rd**** person POV and the Hero and Heroine have no exact name, and also it set in the post-game with all 3 main arc covered, and another one, I didn't use the Guardian-Knight system like from original story.**

* * *

Inside a house in the middle of nowhere, lived the children of Mana or some other called as 'Hero'. The children of Mana who lived there were named Kain and Iris, they weren't blood related but they were the same children of Mana.

Iris and Kain knew each other since a long time ago, as they ended up living together because they felt a connection as someone who had 'amnesia'. But after Iris went on a little journey, she brought home the twin siblings, Lisa and Bud, and somehow they both called Kain and Iris as 'Master'. So Kain and Iris weren't the only one who lived there anymore.

"Master Iris, please wake up! It's already morning!" Lisa said in one morning as she tried to wake up Iris from her long beauty sleep.

Iris snuggled inside her blanket and refused to wake up. Lisa tried any meant to wake up her, ranging from slapping her face until blowing a whistle, to no avail. Well, the weather was quite cold and it was perfect for sleeping.

Lisa pouted at her failure to wake her Master, and she walked down to the first floor. She thought what meant would be necessary to wake up the still sleeping Master. But then, she was approached by Kain who saw that her face looked weird.

"Lisa, why you make that kind of face?" he asked in pure curiosity as Lisa walked back and forth on the first floor.

Lisa looked up and noticed that Kain was here, and it surprise her because she paid no attention to surroundings. She quickly answered, "Master Kain! I-it's just… Master Iris… well," Lisa tried to answer the question Kain proposed but found no word to really describe what she wanted to say.

Kain understood what Lisa wanted to say. He looked up towards where Iris room would be and said, "Well, I would wake her up then. Lisa, you join Bud to make the breakfast for all of us in the kitchen. Don't forget to cook Iris favorite Fruit Salad okay?" Kain said with a reassuring voice.

Lisa looked at Kain with teary eyes, touched by her Master kindness and said, "Yes, Master Kain!" she said with a teary eyes before ran to the kitchen to cook with her twin brother Bud.

Kain sighed at the children antics, though he was quite happy that they came to his and Iris house. The house felt livelier with them around.

Kain looked at the stairs before said in his heart, "_Well then, I need to wake the Sleeping Beauty, now,_" Kain thought to himself as he started to climb the stairs which lead to Iris room.

He quickly found himself in Iris room, which used to be the room they shared together, but because of a change of heart in Kain heart, he couldn't bear to share the same room with Iris and made a new room in the first floor.

Iris room was like the last time he entered it, neat and tidy just like Iris. He erased the thought in his head as he quickly walked to the side of Iris bed.

Iris still curled up on her bed with her blanket covered most of her body. Kain smiled at his fellow Mana children as he reached up to touch Iris soft hazelnut hair. Well, he couldn't help it that his heart changed to the beautiful girl. Long time ago, he used to think Iris as friends, but after they met a lot of boy around Iris and his age (maybe?) his heart and feeling towards Iris changed.

He sighed as he almost forgot why he was there in the first place. He quickly drew back his hand from Iris hair, and proceeds to poke her cheek. He checked how deep Iris sleep was, and found it was quite a deep sleep.

"Iris, hurry up and rise or you will miss the shopping spree," Kain whispered to Iris.

Iris quickly jolted up, and shouted, "Wait, I'm awake now… eh, Kain!" Iris shouted and she stumbled on her bed, but found Kain holding his laugh instead.

Kain smiled at Iris angry face and said, "Morning Iris. Good shout as usual," Kain said with a smile on his face.

Iris pouted at Kain but sighed when she knew she was being tricked. She then climbed down from her bed, and said, "Kain, I will take some bath now. If you would like to leave," she said with a small smile.

Kain nodded at Iris words and said, "Well, I'll wait below with Lisa and Bud. If you done with your bath, let's go to visit our parents… Mana Tree," he said as he climbed down the stairs.

"Got it," Iris said as she looked at Kain until he gone from her room.

Then, Iris sighed because she was tired. Some side of her wanted to sleep again, but now that she was wide awake, better do some of her jobs.

* * *

Kain waited for Iris to prepare herself in the dining room. Lisa and Bud were done with their cooking and had plated his food, Fried Rice, in front of him and Iris favorite Fruit Salad in front of the empty seat beside him. Bud had the same food like Kain and Lisa had the same with Iris.

"Master Iris took too long," Bud whined with a pout visible on his face.

As if Bud whine was a signal, Iris appeared in front of her family in the dining room. She kindly said, "Sorry to make you guys wait for me," she said kindly as she stepped inside the dining room.

Kain mouth was opened wide at Iris sudden appearance. It's not like she changed her style of clothes or hair, it's just he felt that Iris felt different. When Iris sat down beside his chair, Kain noted that Iris had a different smell than usual, and it was a good one.

"Iris, what you use? You have a different… fragrance," he said complimenting Iris.

"Yeah, Master Iris smells nice!" Lisa said in a cheerful manner. Bud looked at his twin with a questioning look, well, he didn't really notice the difference, being a kid he was.

Iris looked at Kain with smiling face, and then she said, "Ah, so you did notice. Elle made the perfume and the soap for me. I believed she used some kind of flower from her birdhouse," Iris answered with a warm voice.

Kain nodded at Iris explanation, while Lisa then asked for a little bit of the perfume later. Then they ate their breakfast peacefully. Well, it has been quite a while since they defeated the Mana Goddess darkness and the Mana Tree was restored. A lot of thing happened to them, ranging from dealing with Underworld until the hidden city of Jumi, but now they lived a quiet life with frequent visit to Mana Tree.

When they finished their breakfast, Kain could feel in his bone that his rival would come soon, so he said, "Iris let's go to Mana Tree," he said quickly.

Iris looked at Kain with a questioning face, because Kain looked like he was in a rush. But, before she could answer Kain proposal, the door of their house was knocked by someone.

Kain cursed in his heart, when Iris opened the door, revealing Elazul and Larc in front of it. Elazul glared at Kain and Larc, Larc glared at Elazul and Kain, and Kain himself glared at both Elazul and Larc. Iris and Bud were oblivious at their visible hostility, while Lisa just gave a long sigh.

"Ah, welcome everyone, what bring you all to come to our house?" Iris asked obliviously at Elazul and Larc. Kain knew that they just wanted to bother him though.

Elazul looked away for a second. His face went red for a moment. Larc who was better at hiding his emotion said, "Olboholn, asked me to see the Mana Sanctuary," Larc said calmly.

Iris cheered at that while Kain cursed the Seven Wisdom in his heart. Iris then looked at Elazul then asked, "Elazul how was everyone from Bejeweled City doing now?" she asked innocently.

Elazul calmed down for a bit and said, "Everyone was doing well as of now. It's all thanks to you and Kain," he said calmly, but when he mention about Kain he glared at the said person who stood behind Iris with annoyed expression.

Iris looked relaxed when Elazul answered that and Kain was pretty annoyed being mentioned although he didn't really do anything. Well, Kain actually didn't know the detail very well about Jumi, He helped a little bit, but after they met Esmeralda, Iris alone helped the whole ordeal.

Well, Kain and Iris handled the ordeal between the Dragon (it was supposed to be Kain problem, but Iris butt in) from the start until the end. And Kain handled the whole stuff with the Faerie all by himself, while Iris brought Bud to meet the Seven Wisdom.

Kain snapped out from his mind, when Iris said, "Well, since we all intended to visit the Mana Tree, why don't we go together?" she said with an oblivious kindness.

The three boys proceed to glare at each other but give in at Iris suggestion. They all knew too well that Iris was a kind hearted girl, and there was no way she could pick one of them.

"Not bad for me," Elazul said quietly, though he was saddened by having his rivals near.

"As long as they don't hinder me," Larc said coldly.

Iris looked at Kain with a straight eyes and Kain only said, "Then, let's all go have a visit together," Kain said with a low voice.

* * *

Iris walked inside 'Amanda and Barret's' Pub in Domina with Elle following her. Inside the pub, she saw Sierra, Pearl, and Daena, chatting together and sometimes laughing. They saw Iris and Elle walked in and Iris waved her hands to the group while Elle just floating silently.

Then Iris sat between Pearl and Sierra and Elle sat beside Daena and Sierra. They started chatting leisurely, until Iris started talking about her last visit to 'her parent house' in other name, the Mana Tree, because she was born from the Mana Tree.

"I don't understand why Kain, Elazul, and Larc glared at each other when we were there. I wonder did they have a fight before…" Iris sighed as she rested her head on the table.

Pearl, Sierra, Daena, and even Elle mouth were opened wide. In their heart they told themselves, '_How come_ _this clueless girl didn't get it yet?_' they thought at their own minds.

"I wonder what they fight over… they used to be quite friendly," Iris continued her own ramble, without noticing the other pitying eyes. They hold their laugh at Iris natural obliviousness.

Pearl cut in Iris complaint by saying, "Err, Iris… do you like Elazul? Since you are the children of Mana from Jumi clan…" Pearl asked with a small voice.

Iris looked at Pearl with questioning eyes. She then answered, "Of course I like him. Why you asked about that kind of obvious thing?" Iris answered with innocent face.

Sierra threw a sharp glare to Pearl, which by Pearl was just answered by a meaningful smile. Sierra then asked, "Then how about my brother? And Kain too, he was Mana Children from Dragon clan right?" she asked in a curious tone.

Iris looked to the ceiling and answered, "I like them all… that's why I wanted them to make up…" Iris answered as she swung her legs back and forth.

Daena tried to hold her laugh, while Pearl and Sierra face palmed their self at Iris oblivious answer. Elle giggled at Iris answer and asked, "Then, let's change our way of asking. Iris, do you ever felt strongly towards someone and at the thought of them disappearing was absolutely unbearable for you?" Elle asked in a mature tone.

"I felt strongly like that to all of my friends," Iris answered casually.

Sierra and Pearl facepalmed (is this even a word?) at Iris answer. Elle tried to sniffle a laugh at the answer, but Daena stood up from her seat, leaned her face to Iris and said, "Okay, we will rephrase this again… geez, how thick your head is… if one of them, either Kain or Larc or Elazul disappear forever, and it really is forever, with no mean to see them ever, ever again, would your heart felt so empty at the point you can't go on living anymore?" Daena asked with more pressure on her words.

Iris looked at Daena weird question, but pondered about it. She tried to get the image of what Daena asked to her. She thought that if either one would die, what would she felt. Would her heart died like that, or could she get over it and living a normal life like there was nothing wrong.

When the thought of a certain someone came by, Iris freaked out at her own imagination. She tried to erase the thought but it just won't go away. Then, she wondered what her feeling towards him was. She used to think that she would outlive her life just to serve the Mana tree and the Mana Goddess, and maybe became the tree itself one day. But, she guess, it wasn't really her everything.

"I guess… I do," Iris finally answered. Her face looked so lost on her own thought.

'_Finally she knocked some sense,_' Sierra thought at Iris answer.

'_How long it took her to realize that thing?_' Pearl thought to herself, maybe hoping it to reach Black Pearl who was her other self.

Elle sipped on her tea, as she thought, '_Good job, Daena,_' Elle thought to herself.

Daena finally gave in a sigh of relief, as she sat on her seat in the more correct way. She then said, "Does this certain person more important than the Mana Tree for you?" Daena asked again with a more calm composure.

Iris looked at Daena and said, "Yes, he did. But, I wonder what this feeling was?" Iris answered with more question on her part.

Elle sweatdrop at Iris question as she said, "Rock… we are talking to a rock here…" Elle said with a quiet voice. Daena nodded at Elle statement as she put her hands in front of her chest. Iris looked at both of them with innocent questioning eyes, completely oblivious about what they mean.

Pearl and Sierra officially snapped, and they both shouted, "That is what you call as a LOVE, for the love of Mana Goddess!" Pearl and Sierra shouted in frustration.

Pearl quickly changed into Black Pearl, and Black Pearl said, "Iris are you pretending or just plain stupid?" Black Pearl asked in a voice filled by anger.

Sierra nodded at Black Pearl statement as she said, "I knew you are Mana Children and you need to serve the Goddess or something. But, don't you know the 'Love' word? Oh wait, let me take out your head with my dagger," Sierra said as she drew her dagger from her hip.

Iris looked blankly at Black Pearl and Sierra who looked like they wanted to hit her head or something. Iris pondered for a while, yet again. Of course she knew about love, but the 'love' Sierra said somehow felt different than the love she knew, the same foreign feeling she felt now.

'_Yes… maybe it was like that_…' Iris thought as she stood up from her seat.

Daena, of course, didn't get why Iris suddenly stood from her seat, so she asked, "Where will you going?" she asked with pure curiosity in her way of speaking.

Iris looked at Daena for a while, then said, "I… I'll go to the meadow. I had a good feeling that the spirits went down right now…" she answered with hesitation in her voice.

Elle looked at Iris in understanding gaze. She then said, "Let me join you, I might help," Elle said with a sweet voice.

Iris looked at Elle for a while. Yes, she knew that Elle was a Siren, and her voice bound to be beautiful and it might help her. But, what she wanted now was to be alone so then she said, "Thanks for the offer Elle. But, I wanted to make another instrumental today," Iris said with apologetic face.

Black Pearl looked at Iris for a while because she felt that actually Iris used the Spirit as a mean to escape for something. But, because Iris already drilled a hole in her rock-like head, giving her time to think it through seems to be the most ideal course of action.

Black Pearl then said, "We won't hold you. Hurry up and go now," Black Pearl said with kind voice even if her face was still as gloomy as ever though.

Sierra seems to understand what Black Pearl wanted to say, so she also said, "If you done with the instrument don't forget to play it for me, okay?" Sierra said with a high voice.

Daena also said, "It would be nice if Mathilda could hear your play even just once. You handled Spirits Instrument beautifully," Daena said with a longing face.

Iris smiled at her friends comment and went out from the Pub. She took a round-about way to the Meadow where spirits usually appeared. She wanted to visit the church a little bit. Iris liked to visit the Church from time to time to play the old piano in it. She loved to play the old piano because she ever had a memory that her Jumi parents used to teach her to play it.

The Church was placed in a place quite secluded from the main city, and it was surrounded by rice paddy. When Iris reached the church, it was empty as usual, because it wasn't the time for townspeople to go to the Church.

Iris quickly took a seat in front of the piano and pushed some of the notes. Iris found the old piano was in good condition and took some breath. She tried to remember a song she used to hear from someone far away. She pushed some notes to match her fuzzy memories and found the memory match the notes quite well. She became more confident and continues to play the rest of the song.

Suddenly, she heard the Church door was opened, and she spontaneously looked back at the door. Her hearts starts beating so fast when she looked at who was there. It was a different feeling that she ever felt from before. That person was precious from her for a long time, but when she realized that he meant much more for her, she just knew that she had fallen in love.

"You played the piano beautifully as always Iris," he said with a kind voice.

Iris looked at him with blush on her face as she looked away in embarrassment. She just knew that the compliment she always heard for long gave this kind of nice feeling. It gave her a load of happiness and she couldn't help but smile.

"T-thanks…" Iris answered while looking away.

He looked at Iris with questioning eyes. It was obvious for him that Iris wasn't herself at that time. But before he could say anything, Iris said, "W-what were you doing here, K-Kain?" Iris asked without looking at him.

He, Kain, looked at Iris who always looked away from him, with suspicious eyes. He used to see that Iris never avoid his eyes, so her sudden change made him wondered, because it was so sudden and so obvious. Kain then asked, "Iris, did you do anything bad? I would ask for forgiveness with you if you done something bad to someone," Kain asked with caring voice.

Iris quickly shook her head, and then said, "I-it's not like… a-at least I think… I didn't think what I felt was something bad…" Iris answered with a hesitating voice. She tried to not have any eye contact with Kain at all.

Kain looked at Iris suspiciously as he walked closer to her. Iris still refused to look at him, and returned to her piano, pushing some of its notes without a particular pattern. Kain sat on the church chairs beside her, and asked again, "Then, why you didn't look at me?" Kain asked with annoyed voice.

Iris looked at the piano when she said, "I… I don't know… it's just… I felt embarrassed to look at you, Kain," Iris answered with stuttering but what she said was her real feeling, Iris was a honest girl inside and out, so she was bad at hiding her feeling.

Kain looked at Iris, and he could see that Iris face was different from how he used to see. Somehow, it gave him a feeling that something had changed inside her. Something he usually didn't notice, because she made it a hidden thing with no mean to know what it was and it was not so Iris like.

Kain could feel his face became warm. He did know that he loves Iris. But, why did he felt like that right now? He always loved her, but just that time, he could feel something was changing in front of him. He sneaked a peek at Iris back which faced him, and noticed that Iris hair had grown long and she had a nice scent, the scent of flower.

Kain tried to reach Iris hair without knowing that he did that, his body moved by its own. When he got a lock of Iris hair, he kissed it tenderly.

Iris felt that something touched her hairs, and took a peek to see who did it. But, when she saw Kain touched her hairs and even kissed it, her face felt so hot to her. She almost thought she had a fever, but this warmth wasn't a bad thing at all. Her hearts started beating rapidly and time seems to be frozen still. She wished that they could be left alone and the world could be theirs even just for a moment.

Iris tried to find her voice, as Kain seems to be not letting her away soon. And barely, she said, "K-Kain… you… my hair…" Iris tried to find her words but just let out jumbled words instead.

Kain snapped to his sense and he looked at his hands which still hold Iris hair. He felt embarrassed at doing that, but, although he did something like that, he didn't feel something was wrong in him. Instead, he stood up from his seat, and put his hands on her shoulders and made her face the piano so Iris back was facing him.

"Iris, I'm sorry… but, I couldn't keep it hidden no more… I wanted to say something to you. Would you like to hear me out?" Kain said with stern and determined voice.

Iris nodded at Kain question. She could feel that something would change between him and her forever, yet she didn't regret it. She tried to prepare her own mental to hear out what Kain wanted to say to her. Somehow, Iris wanted to know more about Kain, although she knew him more than anyone else, but she wanted to know everything about Kain. His past, himself, his faults, his goods, everything of him she wanted to know it all.

Kain gulped for a little, and he rested his head on Iris head. He then said, "Iris, you used to ask why I moved from our room and made a new one below right?" Kain said with low voice but he felt shaken up.

Iris noticed Kain shaky voice and softly, almost as if she was whispering, she said, "Yes, I used to ask about it… and about why Elazul, Larc, and you seems to be not in a good term…" Iris said softly.

Kain smiled a little bit although Iris couldn't see it. He was quite glad that Iris at least knew about some obvious thing. He knew that Iris was so oblivious to what he was feeling for her… he ever hoped that he fell in love with others… but for him, Iris was the only one for him.

"I… I moved out from our room after we defeat the Dragon… it was because… I… I'm no longer… I couldn't hold my growing feeling for you. I couldn't hide it… and I was afraid that I would hurt you… I might be a half-Dragon and you are half-Jumi… but, I couldn't stop it… that's why I felt threatened by the existence of our friends. We all had the same feeling, and there was only one you, I wanted to own you all by myself," Kain confessed what he had bottled up for a long time.

Iris just knew that Kain had held himself in front of her for a long time. And she just realized it now. She had made Kain suffer didn't she? She could feel a rush of guilt inside her mind and it made her starts feeling really bad. She wanted to say sorry, but somehow, she couldn't get the courage to do it.

Kain hands gripped Iris shoulder stronger than before. As if he tried to make sure that Iris wouldn't go anywhere yet.

Kain then continued his talks as he said, "I couldn't bear the thought of it… you, became the new Mana Tree someday… like the Mana Girl from the other ages… the sad story… I didn't want it to happen to you. I wanted to be with you, always, for now and forever…" Kain said softly.

Iris could feel that her heartbeats pace had increased again, when Kain said, "Iris… I love you, more than anyone else in the Fa'diel. I love you… I… love you…" Kain said softly.

When she heard it, Iris couldn't find her voice to answer Kain. She knew what she felt perfectly, but she just couldn't say it. Iris knew that Kain used a lot of his courage to say all of it. She wanted to answer properly, but didn't know how to do it.

Without they knowing it, between Kain and Iris hung an air of silent. Both of them didn't say anything, but they didn't do anything either. Iris let Kain hands on her shoulders and seems to be not minding it. She then looked at the piano in front of her and remembered a song she used to hear from someone.

Iris pushed some of the notes, until she found the note. She remembered the song was used to say something to someone who was precious. When she found the note she wanted to, Iris played the song while praying in her heart that Kain would notice what the song was meant.

Kain noticed that Iris started playing the piano again. He felt angry a little, but he could feel that Iris played the piano not to ignore him. He listened to the song for a while, until he remembered that he knew the song. His face became red, as he listened more of it. He raised his head from Iris and looked at the piano in front of them.

Iris then stopped playing in the middle of the song. She didn't remember the rest of it anymore. What she played was a Jumi love song which she knew the most. But, she also inserted the Dragon love song, which she heard a long time ago.

Iris opened her mouth, and looked up to Kain, who did look like that he knew what song she played just now. Kain looked back at her, as Iris said, "I… I'm bad with this… but, I don't want to lose you Kain. I didn't want to ever see you suffer, I don't want for you to leave me. I want to be with you for now and forever. I don't know if my love for you was the same like your love, but I really love you Kain," Iris said with flustered face.

Kain laughed at Iris answer. He could feel that he was truly happy, blissful even. He never thought that his feeling would be answered. He knew that Iris would be the same kind people who tend to meddle at someone stuff no matter what happened to her. He knew that no matter how much Iris changed, he would always love her.

Iris looked at him in questioning expression. She didn't get why he would laugh like that. Heck, she never knew that Kain had that kind of laugh. Although Iris felt irritated, she couldn't stay mad at him for long. After all, she loves him.

Kain smiled at Iris when he suddenly put one of his hands on Iris back and the other lifted her body from the chair. Iris could see that her body floated, and found herself picked up by Kain in bridal style. She knew that her face was so red like now. It was the first time Kain picked her like that.

Kain then sat on the church chair, as he putted Iris on his lap. Kain was quite a man of few words, so when Iris suddenly felt that something was being pressed on her lips, she was surprised. She was even more surprised when she knew that the something was Kain lips pressed on hers.

Iris relaxed more when she knew it as she started to enjoy it. Iris wrapped her arms around Kain neck, as Kain hold her close to him.

They parted away for a while to take some breath. But now, Iris returned the kiss from Kain and she pressed her lips on him.

Kain was surprised, but, he returned the kiss back. They kissed for a long time continuously with a slight break for breath. But, they quickly kissed again with overflowing feeling. They shared the same fate, they shared the same feeling, and they want to share each other inside and out.

They both stopped when suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching the church. Kain put Iris down from his lap, as he said, "I wanted to show off," Kain said with childish tone.

Iris giggled, as she said, "No need… let them realize it," Iris answered with the same childish tone.

Kain smiled at Iris before kissed her cheeks. Iris face becomes redder and she thought she would pass out from the heat, as Kain said, "This was just for now. We have kids in home, so I would behave," Kain said in teasing manner.

Iris flustered at the moment, but then laughed. Kain hold Iris hands tight in his. They both walked out as the townspeople starts rushed in into the church. They had a long life ahead of them, and the possibility would stretch on forever.

"_Kain, had a will to tell at least our girls friend? Or maybe tell the Seven Wisdoms?"_

"_Nah, they would notice it soon"_

"_Not even Bud and Lisa?"_

"_We will. Soon, after the other noticed it first"_

"_I wonder what our kids will be like…"_

"_We had the time in the worlds to see it"_

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
